Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Nvidia answers yes

Nvidia gave another bullish sales forecast, answering the question as to whether spending on AI computing remains strong. Second-quarter revenue for the chipmaker will be about $28 billion, beating the average of analyst estimates. Results in the fiscal first quarter, which ran through April, also beat projections. “The next industrial revolution has begun,” Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said. “AI will bring significant productivity gains to nearly every industry and help companies be more cost- and energy-efficient, while expanding revenue opportunities.” The upbeat outlook reinforces Nvidia’s status as the biggest beneficiary of AI spending. The company’s so-called AI accelerators—chips that help data centers develop chatbots and other cutting-edge tools—have become a hot commodity in the past two years, sending its sales soaring. Nvidia’s market valuation has skyrocketed as well, topping $2.3 trillion. —David E. Rovella  

Goldman Sachs Group Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said he expects the Federal Reserve won’t cut interest rates this year given a US economy that’s proved quite resilient. Investments in AI infrastructure have been one of the main drivers, he said, as has government spending. Still, Solomon contends the consumer is feeling a longer-term bite from higher prices. “If you’re talking to CEOs that are running businesses that really deal with what I’ll call the middle of the American economy, those businesses have been starting to see change in consumer behaviors,” he said. “Inflation is not just nominal. It’s cumulative.”

DuPont de Nemours plans to break apart into three publicly traded companies, joining a list of industrial conglomerates seeking to boost returns by splitting into smaller, more focused businesses. The company will separate its electronics and water units through tax-free transactions, DuPont said Wednesday. The remaining operations will be focused on industries such as biopharma and medical devices. Chief Executive Officer Ed Breen, who returned to the role in 2020, will step down June 1, the company said. 

Ireland, Norway and Spain plan to formally recognize a Palestinian state—comprising Gaza and the West Bank—on May 28. The three countries made the announcement Wednesday, taking the historic step amid the ongoing war in Gaza in which tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and where the United Nations warns of famine. The coordinated moves by the European nations underscores how the war triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel is focusing global attention on the issue of statehood for Palestinians and hurting Israel’s relations with the rest of the world. Israel responded by recalling its ambassadors. 

Palestinian children inspect the damage following Israeli shelling of a residential district in central Gaza on Wednesday. Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg

Anglo American agreed to enter talks with larger rival BHP Group after rejecting a third buyout proposal worth about $49 billion, opening the door for the first time to what would be the biggest mining deal in over a decade. The two companies have been in discussions in recent days after BHP submitted its latest bid, which still requires Anglo to spin off majority stakes in South African platinum and iron ore companies. Anglo had already twice rebuffed BHP proposals to first break up and then acquire the company, and instead rushed out a radical restructuring plan of its own.

More than one in 10 Americans with federal student loans have been approved for some measure of debt relief under President Joe Biden, the White House said as it announced a new round of forgiveness. More than 160,000 borrowers will benefit from the latest package, valued at $7.7 billion. These moves bring the total beneficiaries of Biden’s post-pandemic campaign to alleviate student debt to an estimated 4.75 million Americans, including those who attended schools that made misleading claims or were accused of fraud. 

Firefly Aerospace investors are considering a sale that could value the closely held rocket and moon lander-maker at about $1.5 billion. Backers, which include US private equity firm AE Industrial Partners, are said to be working with an adviser on strategic options for Firefly. Firefly’s single-use Alpha rocket has contracts to launch satellites for the US Department of Defense and for NASA, as well as commercial satellite operators.

Oaktree Capital Management took ownership of Italy’s Inter Milan football club after its Chinese owner defaulted on a loan. The US fund has taken control of the club as of Wednesday after conglomerate Suning Holding Group failed to repay €395 million ($428 million). The collateral backing the debt was a majority stake in the football club.  

Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan celebrates winning the Serie A TIM title in April. Photographer: Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images

• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calls a July 4 election.
• Russia pulls notice of a Baltic Sea border plan that raised alarm.
• China’s $10,000 electric vehicle is coming for Europe’s carmakers.
• Citi trader got 711 warning messages before sparking flash crash.
• Nikki Haley has changed her tune, says she’ll vote for Donald Trump.
• UnitedHealth touted cyberattack repairs when Utah was still reeling.
• The case for Japan’s amazing clothes-drying bathrooms.

In 2012, the writers and curators Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin were shown a few models of buildings that were never built. While unremarkable in themselves, the models, sitting in a warehouse on the outskirts of Los Angeles, “gave us the kernel of an idea,” Goldin says. After combing through more than 6,000 unbuilt projects from around the world, they have compiled about 300 of them into a richly illustrated book, Atlas of Never Built Architecture. The projects run from kooky skyscrapers to fantastical pyramids the size of cities and hotels perched on the side of Machu Picchu. “What you see on paper from architects exceeds anything that we see” in the real world, Goldin says. “You’re of course going to come across really great ideas,” he says. “But you also come across a lot of really bad ideas.”

This 2008 design for Russia’s Perm Museum from Valerio Olgiati, a Swiss architect. Source: Phaidon

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